Anatomy integration blueprint: A fourth‐year musculoskeletal anatomy elective model

Current undergraduate medical school curricular trends focus on both vertical integration of clinical knowledge into the traditionally basic science‐dedicated curricula and increasing basic science education in the clinical years. This latter type of integration is more difficult and less reported on than the former. Here, we present an outline of a course wherein the primary learning and teaching objective is to integrate basic science anatomy knowledge with clinical education. The course was developed through collaboration by a multi‐specialist course development team (composed of both basic scientists and physicians) and was founded in current adult learning theories. The course was designed to be widely applicable to multiple future specialties, using current published reports regarding the topics and clinical care areas relying heavily on anatomical knowledge regardless of specialist focus. To this end, the course focuses on the role of anatomy in the diagnosis and treatment of frequently encountered musculoskeletal conditions. Our iterative implementation and action research approach to this course development has yielded a curricular template for anatomy integration into clinical years. Key components for successful implementation of these types of courses, including content topic sequence, the faculty development team, learning approaches, and hidden curricula, were developed. We also report preliminary feedback from course stakeholders and lessons learned through the process. The purpose of this report is to enhance the current literature regarding basic science integration in the clinical years of medical school. Anat Sci Educ 7: 379–388. © 2014 American Association of Anatomists.     

Developing an audiovisual notebook as a self‐learning tool in histology: Perceptions of teachers and students

Videos can be used as didactic tools for self‐learning under several circumstances, including those cases in which students are responsible for the development of this resource as an audiovisual notebook. We compared students' and teachers' perceptions regarding the main features that an audiovisual notebook should include. Four questionnaires with items about information, images, text and music, and filmmaking were used to investigate students' (n = 115) and teachers' perceptions (n = 28) regarding the development of a video focused on a histological technique. The results show that both students and teachers significantly prioritize informative components, images and filmmaking more than text and music. The scores were significantly higher for teachers than for students for all four components analyzed. The highest scores were given to items related to practical and medically oriented elements, and the lowest values were given to theoretical and complementary elements. For most items, there were no differences between genders. A strong positive correlation was found between the scores given to each item by teachers and students. These results show that both students' and teachers' perceptions tend to coincide for most items, and suggest that audiovisual notebooks developed by students would emphasize the same items as those perceived by teachers to be the most relevant. Further, these findings suggest that the use of video as an audiovisual learning notebook would not only preserve the curricular objectives but would also offer the advantages of self‐learning processes. Anat Sci Educ 7: 209–218. © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.     

Enhancement of anatomical learning and developing clinical competence of first‐year medical and allied health profession students

Hands‐on educational experiences can stimulate student interest, increase knowledge retention, and enhance development of clinical skills. The Lachman test, used to assess the integrity of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), is commonly performed by health care professionals and is relatively easy to teach to first‐year health profession students. This study integrated teaching the Lachman test into a first‐year anatomy laboratory and examined if students receiving the training would be more confident, competent, and if the training would enhance anatomical learning. First‐year medical, physician assistant and physical therapy students were randomly assigned into either the intervention (Group A) or control group (Group B). Both groups received the course lecture on knee anatomy and training on how to perform the Lachman test during a surface anatomy class. Group A received an additional 15 minutes hands‐on training for the Lachman test utilizing a lightly embalmed cadaver as a simulated patient. One week later, both groups performed the Lachman test on a lightly embalmed cadaver and later completed a post‐test and survey. Students with hands‐on training performed significantly better than students with lecture‐only training in completing the checklist, a post‐test, and correctly diagnosing an ACL tear. Students in Group A also reported being more confident after hands‐on training compared to students receiving lecture‐only training. Both groups reported that incorporating clinical skill activities facilitated learning and created excitement for learning. Hands‐on training using lightly embalmed cadavers as patient simulators increased confidence and competence in performing the Lachman test and aided in learning anatomy. Anat Sci Educ 7: 181–190. © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.     

Beyond Punnett Squares: Student Word Association and Explanations of Phenotypic Variation through an Integrative Quantitative Genetics Unit Investigating Anthocyanin Inheritance and Expression in Brassica rapa Fast Plants

Genetics instruction in introductory biology is often confined to Mendelian genetics and avoids the complexities of variation in quantitative traits. Given the driving question “What determines variation in phenotype (Pv)? (Pv=Genotypic variation Gv + environmental variation Ev),” we developed a 4-wk unit for an inquiry-based laboratory course focused on the inheritance and expression of a quantitative trait in varying environments. We utilized Brassica rapa Fast Plants as a model organism to study variation in the phenotype anthocyanin pigment intensity. As an initial curriculum assessment, we used free word association to examine students’ cognitive structures before and after the unit and explanations in students’ final research posters with particular focus on variation (Pv = Gv + Ev). Comparison of pre- and postunit word frequency revealed a shift in words and a pattern of co-occurring concepts indicative of change in cognitive structure, with particular focus on “variation” as a proposed threshold concept and primary goal for students’ explanations. Given review of 53 posters, we found ∼50% of students capable of intermediate to high-level explanations combining both Gv and Ev influence on expression of anthocyanin intensity (Pv). While far from “plug and play,” this conceptually rich, inquiry-based unit holds promise for effective integration of quantitative and Mendelian genetics.     

Conditioned avoidance responses survive contingency degradation in the garden slug,Lehmannia valentiana

Joint presentations of a conditioned stimulus (CS) and an unconditioned stimulus (US) strengthen the contingency between them, whereas presentations of one stimulus without the other degrade this contingency. For example, the CS can be presented without the US either before conditioning (CS–no US and then CS–US; latent inhibition) or after conditioning (CS–US and then CS–no US; extinction). In vertebrate subjects and several invertebrate species, a time lapse usually results in a return of the conditioned response, or spontaneous recovery. However, in land mollusks, spontaneous recovery from extinction has only recently been reported, and response recovery after latent inhibition has not been reported. In two experiments, using conditioned aversion to a food odor as a measure of learning and memory retention, we observed contingency degradation via latent inhibition (Experiment 1) and extinction (Experiment 2) in the common garden slug, Lehmannia valentiana. In both situations, the contingency degradation procedure successfully attenuated conditioned responding, and delaying testing by several days resulted in recovery of the conditioned response. This suggests that the CS–US association survived the degradation manipulation and was retained over an interval of several days.     

Blocking between landmarks during 2-D (touchscreen) and 3-D (ARENA) search tasks with pigeons

Many studies investigating cue competition have focused on the blocking effect. We investigated the blocking effect with pigeons using a landmark-based spatial search task in both a touchscreen preparation (Exp. 1a) and an automated remote environmental navigation apparatus (Exp. 1b). In Phase 1, two landmarks (LMs: A and Z) appeared on separate trials as colored circles among a row of eight (touchscreen) or six (ARENA) identical response units. Subjects were rewarded for pecking at a target response unit to the right of LM A and to the left of an extraneous LM, Z. During the blocking trials in Phase 2, LM X was presented in compound with a second LM (A) that had been previously trained. On control trials, LM Y was presented in compound with LM B and a target in the same manner as in the trials of AX, except that neither landmark had previously been trained with the target. All subjects were then tested with separate trials of A, X, B, and Y. Testing revealed poor spatial control by X relative to A and Y. We report the first evidence for a spatial-blocking effect in pigeons and additional support for associative effects (e.g., blocking) occurring under similar conditions (e.g., training sessions, spatial relationships, etc.) in 3-D and 2-D search tasks.     

Quality Audits as a Tool for Quality Improvement in Selected European Higher Education Libraries

From the beginning of the 1990s, different types of quality management and evaluation systems have become integrated into higher education institutes throughout Europe due to the creation of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). This has meant that the university libraries have had to learn how to evaluate their services and improve their quality. Quality audits are one tool that can be used in quality management approaches to assess how well an organization is being managed. This paper describes and benchmarks the use of external and internal auditing in three European academic libraries, i.e. the Medical Library of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (Germany), the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Library (Spain) and the University of Eastern Finland Library (Finland). The results reveal the best practices of auditing in these institutions; and recommendations are provided for the further development of library auditing and ways to improve co-operation between libraries.     

The development of a system for the collection and use of scientific and technological results

The main aspects related to the development of a system for the aggregation and use of scientific results (hereinafter, the System) are discussed. A unified comprehensive approach to the development of the System and the qualitative improvement of the information about the performance of the Russian research sector provided to the target audience is being suggested for use by academic institutions, government regulators, and the business community. The improvement is meant to be achieved through the development of technology that provides access to the relevant electronic resources. The presented conclusions lay the basis for a range of research and development works in the field related to the collection of scientific results.     

Enacted Goal Attention in Family Conversations about End-of-life Health Decisions

Most extant research on end-of-life communication in families has been based on the assumption that more communication is better communication. We used a multiple goals theoretical perspective to demonstrate that the quality of communication about end-of-life decisions matters. Members of 121 older parent/adult child dyads (N = 242) engaged in an elicited conversation about end-of-life health choices and reported their assessments of the conversation. Using multilevel linear modeling, we found that outside ratings of a person's communication quality (i.e., attention to task, identity, and relational goals) as well as outside ratings of the partner's communication quality were positively associated with the person's reported conversational satisfaction and hopefulness and negatively associated with the person's hurt feelings and relational distancing.     

Study on the Fuzzy COntrol Strategy of Automobile with CVT

In order to study the dynamic characteristics of automobile with a CVT system, a bond graph analysis model of continuously variable transmission is established.On the base of the simulation state space equations that are established with bond graph theory,a fuzzy control strategy with an expert system of starting process has been introduced.Considering uncertain system parameters and exterior resistance disturbing,the effect of the profile of membership function and the defuzzification algorthm on the capacity of the fuzzy controller has been studied.The result of simulation proves that the proposed fuzzy controller is effective and feasible,Such controller has been employed in the actual control and has proved practicable.The study lays a foundation for design of the fuzzy controller for automobile with a CVT system.